This study evaluated the impact of a parenting intervention on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in a group of caregivers and their 21-to-28-month-old children in a low-income South African township. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group (n = 70) receiving training in dialogic book-sharing (8 weekly group…

Spatial thinking, an important component of cognition, supports academic achievement and daily activities (e.g., learning science and math; using maps). Better spatial skills are correlated with more spatial play and more parental attention to spatial concepts. Tested here was whether informing mothers about spatial thinking and ways to encourage…

A multimethod, multi-informant design was used to examine links among sociodemographic risk, family adversity, parenting quality, and child adjustment in families experiencing homelessness. Participants were 245 homeless parents (M[subscript age] = 31.0, 63.6% African American) and their 4- to 6-year-old children (48.6% male). Path analyses…

Initial intervention processes for children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) largely focused on direct efforts to impact core cognitive and academic deficits associated with the diagnosis. Recent research on risk processes in families of children with ID, however, has influenced new developmental system approaches to early intervention. Recent…

This study describes a test of the Fathers and Sons Program for increasing intentions to avoid violence and reducing aggressive behaviors in 8-to 12-year-old African American boys by enhancing the parenting skills satisfaction and parenting behaviors of their nonresident fathers. The study included 158 intervention and 129 comparison group…

To test proposals regarding the hierarchical organization of adult attachment, this study examined developmental origins of generalized and romantic attachment representations and their concurrent associations with romantic functioning. Participants (N = 112) in a 35-year prospective study completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and Current…

The spacing effect describes the robust finding that long-term learning is promoted when learning events are spaced out in time rather than presented in immediate succession. Studies of the spacing effect have focused on memory processes rather than for other types of learning, such as the acquisition and generalization of new concepts. In this…

The influence of parenting skills on adolescent outcomes among children affected by maternal HIV/AIDS (N = 118, M age = 13) was investigated. Among families with more frequent family routines, over time adolescents showed lower rates of aggression, anxiety, worry, depression, conduct disorder, binge drinking, and increased self-concept. Among…

Responds to Worobey and Brazelton's commentary on the author's assessment of a Brazelton-based newborn intervention by addressing two issues: (1) what the literature indicates with respect to this intervention technique, and (2) the significance of the process by which interventions are implemented. (HOD)

Examines the relative efficacy of employing verbal rationales and modeling procedures as methods for parents to introduce a new parenting technique to their children. Two age groups, 3 to 4 1/2 years and 5 1/2 to 7 1/2 years, participated to enable assessment of potential developmental differences in children's responsiveness.(RH)

Examined the relation between authoritative parenting and school achievement in 120 adolescents of 10-16 years. Adolescents who described their parents as treating them warmly, democratically, and firmly were more likely than their peers to develop positive attitudes toward their achievement and do well in school. (RJC)

Two general evolutionary hypotheses were tested on 756 White children (397 girls) studied longitudinally: (1) rearing experiences would predict pubertal timing; and (2) children would prove differentially susceptible to rearing. Analysis of pubertal measurements, including some based on repeated physical assessments, showed that mothering and…

This paper examines complex models of the associations between family income, material hardship, parenting, and school readiness among White, Black, and Hispanic 6-year-olds, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). It is critical to test the universality of such complex models, particularly given their…

Aimed (1) to determine whether a time sampling, frequency-count procedure for assessing mother-infant interaction could capture a set of theoretically important dimensions, and (2) to chronicle both ability and change within the mother-infant relationship. A total of 74 dyads were observed when infants were 1, 3, and 9 months of age. (Author/RH)

A longitudinal study examined the connection between mothers' and fathers' sex role orientations and employment situations and the parents' involvement in child-oriented activities. Reported are interrelations among measures of husbands' and wives' sex role orientations, association between sex role attributes and extent of participation in the…